Catman (DC Comics)
comic books character
Catman (Thomas Blake) is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is part of Batman's growing roster of enemies, debuting in the mid-1960s.
For decades, the character rarely appeared in comic books, as Batman stories returned to darker themes. A modern revival of the character in the pages of Green Arrow many years later depicted a Catman down on his luck, clinging to past glories, overweight, and pathetic.
In 2006, however, the character was rehabilitated by writer Gail Simone, depicting Blake as having picked himself up from the gutter, restoring his physical fitness and gaining a new sense of purpose and dignity while living with lions in Africa. Stories since then have depicted him as an antihero and the leader of the mercenary team Secret Six.
Publication history
Catman first appeared in Detective Comics #311 (January 1963) and was created by Bill Finger and Jim Mooney.
A different Cat-Man once opposed the Blackhawks in Blackhawk #141, but he has no connection with the more prominent Batman villain.
Fictional character biography
Origins
Pre-Crisis
Catman was Thomas Blake, a world-famous hunter who turned to crime because he had grown bored with the job and squandered most of his money. He became a burglar who committed his crimes in a catsuit made of ancient African cloth and modeled after Catwoman's disguise.
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This entry incorporates text from “Catman (DC Comics)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.